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DALE EARNHARDT JR. NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET POST-RACE RECAP/NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY DATE: Sept. 20, 2009 RACE: Sylvania 300 START: 23rd FINISH: 35th POINTS POSITION: 21st RECAPPING THE RACE: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, finished 35th in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Earnhardt, who consistently ran in the top-10 all day, experienced unfortunate luck with 17 laps left to go when he received contact from the No. 00, which sent his No. 88 Chevy into the Turn 4 wall. Earnhardt was running fourth prior to this incident that occurred on Lap 284, the first lap after a restart. Earnhardt lined up 23rd for the event and battled a loose-handling No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet in the opening laps of the race. However, as the long, green-flag run continued, Earnhardt steadily worked his way through the field. By Lap 51, he was up to 14th and was clocking in the fastest laps times. At Lap 68 and under caution, Earnhardt reported over the radio that the No. 88 Chevy was running very well so he came in the pits for only four tires and fuel. At the restart on Lap 74, he was up to 12th. As the race progressed, the No. 88 Chevy continued to drive well and after a pit stop under the yellow for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment, Earnhardt was running fourth by Lap 141. Thirteen laps later, Earnhardt was once again clocking in the fastest lap times and had improved to third. Earnhardt ran as high as second during the Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire on Sunday. After working his way back through the field following a pit stop under green at Lap 262 that put him back to 18th, Earnhardt drove his way back into the top five and was fourth by Lap 283. During that same lap, Earnhardt received contact that caused severe damage to the No. 88 Chevy. That ended his day, and Earnhardt was noted for a 35th-place finish. QUOTING DALE EARNHARDT JR.: EARNHARDT (ON THE INCIDENT THAT ENDED HIS DAY AT NEW HAMPSHIRE.): "The No. 00 can't hold his line and went down in the bottom of the corner and lost it and run up the side of my car and spun me out. I know that he can't hold his line, and I should have known that, but I gotta run hard and try to win. Some people you just can't race side-by-side with. We're disappointed. We had a good run, and I want to thank my guys and AMP Energy and Mountain Dew and National Guard. "My car is tore up ... We're all running real hard, but you've got to know how much race car you've got and you've got to know how much talent you've got before you go down in the corner. It's disappointing. We had a good car. We run hard and worked hard all day long and we had the best car at certain times in the race. I felt like we had a top-three car. I hate it for my guys that worked real hard."  ***** Courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports. Media Relations | No. 88 AMP Energy / National Guard Racing ***** Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Official Site - www.dalejr.com |
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